Contents

The organization was initially activated in Hawaii as the 14th Pursuit Wing to contribute to the defense of the Hawaiian Islands, its designation was soon changed to Hawaiian Interceptor Command. The Hawaiian Interceptor Command suffered heavy losses during the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), but airmen managed to shoot down several enemy aircraft.[1] A short time later, it was inactivated and its men and equipment became the cadre for VII Fighter Command.[citation needed]

1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

2.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source

3.
European Theater of Operations, United States Army
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The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed US Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and it was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, US Army, which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new areas of control. Major General James E. Chaney, an Army Air Corps officer, arrived in the United Kingdom on 18 May 1941, SBOPS also had the role of studying British use of Lend Lease supplies. His formal title was the Special Army Observer in the United Kingdom, after the United States entered the war, SPOBS was succeeded by United States Army Forces in the British Isles, actually SPOBS under a new name. At the time of the ARCADIA Conference, December 1941 – January 1942, daley, and make him in turn responsible to General Chaney, designated as CG, USAFBI. Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee became Chief, Services of Supply, U. S. Army Forces British Isles, on June 8,1942, the United States Department of War officially established ETOUSA in its place. Its mission was to conduct planning for the retaking of Europe and to exercise administrative. The 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division was the first United States Army unit sent to Europe in World War II, the first battalion arrived in Belfast in late January 1942, followed by the rest of the regiment in February. These units were designated as U. S. Army Northern Ireland Forces, the 133rd and 168th Infantry Regiments trained in the peat bogs, and performed border guard patrols between British Northern Ireland and the neutral Irish Free State. The remaining unit of the division, the 135th Infantry Regiment, until SHAEF was operational ETOUSA liaised closely with the British in the planning and organising of Operation Overlord. General Dwight D. Eisenhower had multiple command appointments, he replaced Chaney in late June 1942 and he then relinquished command of ETOUSA to Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews in February 1943, who was killed in an air crash in May. He was replaced by Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, in December 1943 it was announced that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944 he resumed command of ETOUSA and the month was officially designated as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. He served in a role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. From February 1944, SHAEF was the command and ETOUSA administrative command. Some units were transferred between operational commands and administrative commands at different times, by the end of 1944, Eisenhower, through SHAEF, commanded three powerful Allied army groups. The British 21st Army Group and French elements of the 6th Army Group were not part of ETOUSA, the ETOUSA planning staff in London was usually referred to by its Army Post Office number, APO887

4.
15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force
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The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force was one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command and was headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California. The 15 EMTF was inactivated on 20 March 2012 and its functions,15 EMTF provided strategic and theater airlift for all United States Department of Defense agencies as well as air refueling for the Air Force in both peace and wartime. Primary aircraft assigned to its units were the C-5 Galaxy, C-9 Nightingale, C-17 Globemaster III, C-21, C-130 Hercules, KC-10 Extender,15 EMTF was a redesignation of Fifteenth Air Force, effective 1 October 2003. During the Cold War,15 AF was one of three Numbered Air Forces of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command, commanding USAF strategic bombers and missiles on a global scale. Elements of 15th Air Force engaged in operations during the Korean War, Vietnam War. The first commander was General Jimmy Doolittle, 15th AF resulted from a reorganization of Doolittles Twelfth Air Force into the 15th with Doolittle in command, and the Ninth Air Force with Lewis H. Brereton in command. The new air force was activated with a strength of ninety B-24 Liberators and 210 B-17 Flying Fortresses, inherited from the Twelfth Air Force, in December, new groups, most of which were equipped with B-24s soon started arriving from the United States. It was hoped that the 15th AF stationed in the Mediterranean would be able to operate when the Eighth Air Force in England was socked in by bad English weather. The 9th AF would later move to England to serve as a unit to take part in the invasion of Europe. Assigned to the 15th Special Group in January 1945, on 1 December 1943, the Headquarters was moved to Bari Airfield, Italy. On 4 January 1944, Fifteenth, along with Twelfth Air Force were organized into Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, MAAF was the southern component of U. S. Strategic Air Forces, Europe, the overall USAAF command and control organization in Europe. The first major operation carried out by Fifteenth Air Force was bombing missions in support of the Anzio Landings in Italy, strikes on German and fascist Italian targets were carried out and caused widespread damage to Axis forces. Big Week was the name of an intense Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces series of attacks on Germany in a series of co-ordinated raids on the German aircraft industry, on 22 February 1944, Fifteenth Air Force made its first attack on Germany, with an attack on Regensburg. The Fifteenth dispatched a force of 183 bombers to the Oberstraubing Messerschmidt assembly plant, some 118 bombed with good results but fourteen were shot down. The next day the 15th sent 102 bombers to the Steyr ball-bearing works in Austria where they destroyed twenty percent of the plant, on 24 February, over 180 Liberators inflicted considerable damage to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 assembly plant at Gotha, losing 28 aircraft. On 25 February 114 B-17s and B-24s were dispatched to Steyr again, but the force became separated, despite these losses, it was believed that the USSTAF had dealt the German aircraft industry a severe blow. In April, General Eisenhower ordered the USSTAF to attack German fuel production centers by striking both the oil refineries and the factories producing synthetic fuels. The 15th started the offensive on 5 April when it dispatched 235 B-17s, the refineries were attacked again on 15 and 24 April, inflicting additional damage

5.
Beale Air Force Base
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Beale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 8 miles east of Marysville, California. The host unit at Beale is the 9th Reconnaissance Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command, the 9 RW collects intelligence essential for Presidential and Congressional decisions critical to the national defense. The wing also maintains a state of readiness in its combat support. The 940th Air Refueling Wing is a tenant Air Force Reserve Command wing at Beale AFB flying the KC-135 Stratotanker, Camp Beale became a United States Air Force installation on 1 April 1951 and was renamed Beale Air Force Base. Beale AFB is the home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, which serves as the host wing for the base. The installation is located outside of Linda, about 10 miles east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, Beale is a large base in terms of land and has five gates providing access on all sides of the base. Visitors enter the base through a gate that local merchants, individuals. The base is home for approximately 4,000 military personnel, Beale Air Force Base covers nearly 23,000 acres of rolling hills in northern California. The bases natural resources are as rich as its significant cultural and historical heritage, Native Americans lived on this land, the mortar bowls they carved into the bedrock lie embedded in a shallow stream. To preserve these and other areas, the base proudly maintains 38 Native American sites,45 homestead sites. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is composed of four groups at Beale AFB, 9th Operations Group Consists of multiple squadrons and detachments. 9th Maintenance Group Consists of the 9th Maintenance Operations Squadron, the 9th Maintenance Squadron, the 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the group is responsible for a $5.8 million annual budget. The group is also the Air Forces single focal point for providing mass ammunition production training, 9th Mission Support Group Provides trained combat support forces to theater commanders- in-chief worldwide. 9th Medical Group Consists of three squadrons, 9th Medical Operations, 9th Medical Support and 9th Physiological Support Squadrons and they provide for the medical needs of Beale AFB beneficiaries and support Beales high-altitude flyers in the U-2 aircraft. The Beale Clinic is located at 15301 Warren Shingle Road on a hillside near base housing. The clinics primary mission is to support the operational readiness. They provide comprehensive care, physiological and environmental support and promote health education. This outpatient clinic consists of both the 9th Medical Operations and 9th Medical Support Squadrons that provide primary care services with aerospace medicine, no inpatient or emergency services are available and minimal specialty services exist

6.
Hawaii
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Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States of America, having received statehood on August 21,1959. Hawaii is the only U. S. state located in Oceania and it is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is the only U. S. state not located in the Americas, the state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands are—in order from northwest to southeast, Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi. The last is the largest island in the group, it is called the Big Island or Hawaiʻi Island to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania, Hawaii has over a million permanent residents, along with many visitors and U. S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous, but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U. S. states. It is the state with an Asian plurality. The states coastline is about 750 miles long, the fourth longest in the U. S. after the coastlines of Alaska, Florida, the state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawaiʻi is that was named for Hawaiʻiloa and he is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled. The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, cognates of Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori, Rarotongan and Samoan. According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, lsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the home, but in Hawaii. A somewhat divisive political issue arose in 1978 when the Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as an official state language. The title of the constitution is The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Article XV, Section 1 of the Constitution uses The State of Hawaii, diacritics were not used because the document, drafted in 1949, predates the use of the okina and the kahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the name in the Hawaiian language is Hawaiʻi. In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the government recognized Hawaii as the official state name. Official government publications, department and office titles, and the Seal of Hawaii use the spelling with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length

7.
Hawaiian Islands
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Formerly the group was known to Europeans and Americans as the Sandwich Islands, a name chosen by James Cook in honor of the then First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. The contemporary name is derived from the name of the largest island, the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in 1893 and the United States annexed the islands in 1898. The Hawaiian Islands are the peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain. The islands are about 1,860 miles from the nearest continent and this name was in use until the 1840s, when the local name Hawaii gradually began to take precedence. The Hawaiian Islands have a land area of 6,423.4 square miles. Except for Midway, which is a territory of the United States. The eight main islands of Hawaii are listed here and this number includes all minor islands and islets, or very small island, offshore of the main islands and individual islets in each atoll. Thus, the southeast island is volcanically active, whereas the islands on the northwest end of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, the age of the archipelago has been estimated using potassium-argon dating methods.4 Ma. The only active volcanism in the last 200 years has been on the island, Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the USGS documents recent volcanic activity and provides images, almost all of the magma of the hotspot has the composition of basalt, and so the Hawaiian volcanoes are composed almost entirely of this igneous rock. There is very little coarser-grained gabbro and diabase, nephelinite is exposed on the islands but is extremely rare. Hawaiʻi island is the biggest and youngest island in the chain, mauna Loa, taking up over half of the Big Island, is the largest shield volcano on the Earth. The measurement from sea level to summit is more than 2.5 miles, the Hawaiian Islands have many earthquakes, generally caused by volcanic activity. Most of the earthquake monitoring took place in Hilo, by missionaries Titus Coan, Sarah J. Lyman. From 1833 to 1896, approximately 4 or 5 earthquakes were reported per year, Hawaii accounted for 7. 3% of the United States reported earthquakes with a magnitude 3.5 or greater from 1974 to 2003, with a total 1533 earthquakes. Hawaii ranked as the state with the third most earthquakes over this period, after Alaska. On October 15,2006, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 off the northwest coast of the island of Hawaii, the initial earthquake was followed approximately five minutes later by a magnitude 5.7 aftershock. Minor-to-moderate damage was reported on most of the Big Island, several major roadways became impassable from rock slides, and effects were felt as far away as Honolulu, Oahu, nearly 150 miles from the epicenter

8.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon

9.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
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The attack, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, led to the United States entry into World War II. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI, Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U. S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions they planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U. S. -held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, the attack commenced at 7,48 a. m. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, all eight U. S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but the USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service, the Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U. S. aircraft were destroyed,2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the station, shipyard, maintenance. Japanese losses were light,29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, one Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured. The surprise attack came as a shock to the American people. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan, the U. S. responded with a declaration of war against Germany and Italy. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940, Roosevelt to proclaim December 7,1941, a date which will live in infamy. Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, over the next decade, Japan continued to expand into China, leading to all-out war between those countries in 1937. Japan spent considerable effort trying to isolate China and achieve sufficient resource independence to attain victory on the mainland, from December 1937, events such as the Japanese attack on USS Panay, the Allison incident, and the Nanking Massacre swung public opinion in the West sharply against Japan. Fearing Japanese expansion, the United States, the United Kingdom, in 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina in an effort to control supplies reaching China. The United States halted shipments of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gasoline to Japan, an invasion of the Philippines was also considered necessary by Japanese war planners. War Plan Orange had envisioned defending the Philippines with a 40 and this was opposed by Douglas MacArthur, who felt that he would need a force ten times that size, and was never implemented. By 1941, U. S. planners anticipated abandonment of the Philippines at the outbreak of war and orders to that effect were given in late 1941 to Admiral Thomas Hart, commander of the Asiatic Fleet

10.
VII Fighter Command
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The VII Fighter Command was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was with Far East Air Forces, based on Guam and it was inactivated after being redesignated the 46th Fighter Wing on 24 August 1948. The command was established in Hawaii in February 1942, from its inception until March 1945, the mission of the command was the air defense of the Hawaii Territory. Within ten days after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the VII Interceptor Command consolidated all Hawaiian Islands defense units and its assigned units were deployed to forward bases in the Central Pacific Area in rotational deployments. During the assault on the Marshall Islands by Seventh Air Force bombers that began in late 1943, the Seventh eventually fitted some of its P-40 Warhawks with belly tanks, and on January 26,1944, sent them out to wait above the clouds for the pursuing Japanese. They shot down ten enemy fighters in three minutes, effectively ending interception of the bombers over the Marshalls, by March 1944, VII Fighter Command was back on Oahu for regrouping, reinforcement, aircraft transition, and general reorganization in preparation for the Marianas campaign. Its strength was increased from four squadrons to three fighter groups of three squadrons each. It was during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign in mid-1944 that the command began their transition from a defensive unit in the rear to the spearhead of the attacks on Japan. Beginning in March 1945, the command was reassigned to Twentieth Air Force on Iwo Jima, the commands units flew Very Long Range bomber escort operations against the armed forces of the Empire of Japan. On 7 April 1945,119 P-51 Mustangs of VII Fighter Command lifted off from Iwo Jima on the first Very Long Range mission by land-based fighter aircraft against the Japanese mainland. Off the coast of Honshu they rendezvoused with more than 100 B-29 Superfortresses for an attack on the Nakajima aircraft plant in Tokyo. The B-29s had been taking heavy losses to Japanese fighters on these Empire strikes, VII Fighter command pilots described the Japanese, who attacked singly during the bomb run and immediately after, as easy targets for the Mustangs that broke off in pairs to engage them. Combined, the American fighters and bombers accounted for 71 Japanese aircraft destroyed, after the end of the war, the command was re-designated as a Wing, with the elimination of the command echelon in the postwar Air Force. It moved to Guam in the Marianas and remained assigned to the Far East Air Force, the organization was inactivated on 24 August 1948. Constituted as VII Interceptor Command on 23 January 1942 Activated on 2 February 1942, Redesignated VII Fighter Command in May 1942 Redesignated 20th Fighter Wing in May 1946 Redesignated 46th Fighter Wing in December 1947 Inactivated on 24 August 1948. afhra. af. mil/. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, maxwell AFB, AL, Office of Air Force History

11.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
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The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some models were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s. At its inception, the B-24 was a design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted. The wing gave the Liberator a high speed, long range. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine, however, the type was difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance. It also had a ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24, the B-24 was used extensively in World War II. It served in every branch of the American armed forces, as well as several Allied air forces and navies, along with the B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, long range anti-submarine Liberators played an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic Gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The C-87 transport derivative served as a range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The B-24 was produced in large numbers. At the end of World War II, the Liberator had been surpassed by more modern types such as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the type was rapidly phased out of US service, although the PB4Y-2 Privateer derivative carried on in service with the US Navy in the Korean War. Two B-24s, one LB-30B and one Liberator V representing a B-24H, are airworthy as of 2016, the Liberator originated from a United States Army Air Corps request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17 under license. After company executives including President Reuben Fleet visited the Boeing factory in Seattle, Washington and this new fuselage was intentionally designed around twin bomb bays, each one being the same size and capacity of the B-17 bomb bays. In January 1939, the USAAC, under Specification C-212, formally invited Consolidated to submit a design study for a bomber with longer range, higher speed, the specification was written such that the Model 32 would automatically be the winning design. The program was run under the group, Project A. Although the B-24 did not meet Project A goals, it was a step in that direction, Project A led to the development of the Boeing B-29 and Consolidateds own B-32 and B-36. The B-24 had a shoulder mounted high aspect ratio Davis wing and this wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range

12.
2d Bombardment Division
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The 2d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-Third Air Force, being stationed at Hurlburt Field and it was inactivated on 1 February 1987. Established as 2d Bombardment Division on 30 August 1943 Activated on 13 September 1943 Redesignated 2d Air Division on 19 December 1944 Disestablished on 28 August 1945, reestablished on 14 January 1949 Organized on 1 June 1949 Discontinued on 7 May 1951. Activated on 20 April 1953 Discontinued, and inactivated, on 1 April 1962, Activated on 10 September 1962 Organized on 8 October 1962 Discontinued, and inactivated, on 1 April 1966. Wiesbaden Army Airfield, West Germany,1 June 1949 Landsberg Air Ammunition Depot, ramstein, West Germany,20 April 1953 –1 March 1954 Dhahran Airfield, Saudi Arabia,1 March 1954 –1 April 1962. Tan Son Nhut Airfield, South Vietnam,8 October 1962 –1 April 1966, Hurlburt Field, Florida,1 March 1983 –1 February 1987. Conducted strategic bombardment of Axis targets in Europe, but between 29 August 1944 and 2 October 1944 division aircraft dropped food to the French population in liberated areas. It also airdropped food, equipment, and supplies to Allied forces engaged in the attack on the Netherlands. From January 1949 to May 1951, in West Germany it participated in training exercises. Organized at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam in October 1962 to control USAF operations there, escalation of fighting in South Vietnam in early 1965 brought new offensive assignments. On 8 February 1965 USAF and VNAF aircraft assaulted targets north of the zone in the first of a series of continuing strikes. On 19 February 1965, USAF F-100 Super Sabres and B-57 Canberras attacked the Viet Cong inside South Vietnam the first use of jets for such offensive actions. The rapid expansion of the personnel and facilities continued well into 1966. On 1 April 1966, the resources were absorbed by the newly activated Seventh Air Force. From March 1983 – February 1987, 2d Air Division forces, with worldwide responsibilities and assignments, engaged in deployment, exercise, subordinate units flew drug interdiction missions under Operation BAT. The 2d Air Division came into being following the reorganisation of the 8th USAAF Bomber Command as the Eighth Air Force, the division continued operations until the end of the war, flying the last combat sortie on 25 April 1945. The group completed 493 operational missions in Europe during World War Two consisting of 95,948 individual aircraft sorties, the 2d Air Division operated the Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft from airfields in Norfolk, England. Within the 2d Air Division, six groups received presidential citations for outstanding actions, five airmen received the highest US award for bravery, the Medal of Honor, four of them posthumously

13.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan

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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed

15.
Operation Overlord
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Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings, a 1, 200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, the decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. The coast of Normandy was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, and the Canadians at Juno. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a military deception, Operation Bodyguard. This misled the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings, Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. A failed counterattack by German forces on 8 August left 50,000 soldiers of the 7th Army trapped in the Falaise pocket, the Allies launched an invasion of southern France on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord, in June 1940, Germanys leader Adolf Hitler had triumphed in what he called the most famous victory in history—the fall of France. The defending British Expeditionary Force, trapped along the northern coast of France, was able to evacuate over 338,000 troops to England in the Dunkirk evacuation. After the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing for the creation of a front in Western Europe. Two tentative plans code-named Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer were put forward for 1942–43, instead, the Allies launched the invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and invaded Italy in September. These operations provided the troops with valuable experience in amphibious warfare, the decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Churchill favoured making the main Allied thrust into Germany from the Mediterranean theatre, but was over-ruled by his American allies, British Lieutenant-General Frederick E. Morgan was appointed Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander, to begin detailed planning. The initial plans were constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. In part because of lessons learned in the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942, the failure at Dieppe also highlighted the need for adequate artillery and air support, particularly close air support, and specialised ships able to travel extremely close to shore. Morgan considered four sites for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected. The Pas de Calais is the closest point in continental Europe to Britain and was the location of sites for V-1 and V-2 rockets. The Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, Normandy was hence chosen as the landing site

16.
Battle of the Bulge
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The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, the surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war, the battle also severely depleted Germanys armoured forces on the Western Front, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and later, Luftwaffe aircraft, also sustained heavy losses, the Germans officially referred to the offensive as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, while the Allies designated it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase Battle of the Bulge was coined by contemporary press to describe the bulge in German front lines on wartime news maps, once that was accomplished, the German dictator Adolf Hitler believed he could fully concentrate on the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops, intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. The Germans achieved total surprise on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule, improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, the Germans initial attack involved 406,000 men,1,214 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns, and 4,224 artillery pieces. These were reinforced a couple of later, bringing the offensives total strength to around 450,000 troops. Between 67,200 and 125,000 of their men were killed, missing, for the Americans, out of 610,000 troops involved in the battle,89,000 were casualties. While some sources report that up to 19,000 were killed, British historian Antony Beevor reports the number killed as 8,407. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II, after the breakout from Normandy at the end of July 1944 and the Allied landings in southern France on 15 August 1944, the Allies advanced toward Germany more quickly than anticipated. The Allies were faced with several military logistics issues, - troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat supply lines were stretched extremely thin supplies were dangerously depleted. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff chose to hold the Ardennes region which was occupied by the U. S, the Allies chose to defend the Ardennes with as few troops as possible due to the favorable terrain and limited Allied operational objectives in the area. They also had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as an area for its troops. The speed of the Allied advance coupled with a lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems

17.
Operation Lumberjack
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Operation Lumberjack was a military operation with the goal of capturing the west bank of the Rhine River and seizing key German cities, near the end of World War II. The First United States Army launched the operation in March 1945 to capture cities in Nazi Germany. One unexpected outcome was the capture of the Ludendorff bridge, a railroad bridge across the Rhine. The Germans had repeatedly frustrated Allied efforts to cross the Rhine, with the 21st Army Group firmly established along the Rhine, Bradleys 12th Army Group prepared to execute Operation Lumberjack. General Omar Bradleys plan called for the U. S, First Army to attack southeastward toward the juncture of the Ahr and Rhine Rivers and then swing south to meet Patton, whose U. S. Third Army would simultaneously drive northeastward through the Eifel, if successful, Lumberjack would capture Cologne, secure the Koblenz sector, and bring the 12th Army Group to the Rhine in the entire area north of the Moselle River. The 12th Army Group also hoped to capture a number of Germans. Montgomery would then capture the Ruhr, the heartland of Germany. First Army controlled the III, V, and VII Corps, III Corps had the 9th Armored Division and the 1st, 9th, and 78th Infantry Divisions attached. The VII Corps controlled the 3rd Armored Division and the 8th, 99th and they were to secure the region between Mosel and the Duren-Cologne and to destroy the German armys capability to fight in that area. The First Army was to seize the region west of the Rhine. After capturing Cologne, the First Army was to wheel southeast, Patton was supposed to capture the Eifel Mountains and then the Mosel Valley, trapping the remainder of the German Seventh Army in the Eifel area. From north to south, the attacking U. S. forces were confronted by the LXXXI and LVIII Panzer Corps of the German Fifteenth Army, and the LXXIV, LXVII, over 75,000 German troops were on the western banks of the bridge. Their only escape route was across the Ludendorff bridge, hitler was angered by this incident and ordered those responsible for the destruction of the Mulheim Bridge to be court-martialed. He also ordered that demolition explosives should not be laid in place until the very last moment, the bridges should only be demolished following an order in writing from the officer in charge, and only as a last resort and at the last possible moment. This order left officers responsible for destroying bridges nervous about both the if they blew up the bridge too soon and if they failed to blow it up at all. Bradley launched Lumberjack on 1 March, in the north, the First Army rapidly exploited bridgeheads over the Erft River, entering Euskirchen on 4 March and Cologne on the fifth. Cologne was in U. S. Army control by the 7th, the First Army then pushed towards the Ahr River valley, the likely point of retreat for what was left of the German Armys LXVI and LXVII Korps

18.
Rhine
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The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe, at about 1,230 km, with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire, in the modern era, it has become a symbol of German nationalism. The variant of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos, spanish is with French in adopting the Germanic vocalism Rin-, while Italian, Occitan and Portuguese retain the Latin Ren-. The Gaulish name Rēnos belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- to move, flow, run, the grammatical gender of the Celtic name is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch and French. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine, the length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in Rhine-kilometers, a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance to Hoek van Holland. The river length is shortened from the rivers natural course due to a number of canalisation projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The total length of the Rhine, to the inclusion of Lake Constance and its course is conventionally divided as follows, The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein near Tamins-Reichenau. Above this point is the catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, ranging from Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in Ticino, traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the Rheinwald valley below Mount Rheinwaldhorn, the Vorderrhein, or Anterior Rhine, springs from Lai da Tuma, near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. A multiday trekking route is signposted along the young Rhine called Senda Sursilvana, the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur, or Posterior Rhine, starts from the Paradies Glacier, near the Rheinwaldhorn. One of its tributaries, the Reno di Lei, drains the Valle di Lei on politically Italian territory, after three main valleys separated by the two gorges, Roflaschlucht and Viamala, it reaches Reichenau. The Vorderrhein arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva, one source is Lai da Tuma with the Rein da Tuma, which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Reno di Medel, the Rein da Maighels, and the Rein da Curnera. The Cadlimo Valley in the Canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel, all streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. In its lower course the Vorderrhein flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta through the Flims Rockslide, the whole stretch of the Vorderrhein to the Rhine confluence near Reichenau-Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana

19.
Strategic Air Command
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At a lower echelon, headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communications. In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U. S. Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U. S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the Simpson Board tasked to plan. the reorganization of the Army, SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel. S. Air Force as an independent service, kenney, initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the Second Air Force, the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 73d Air Division. In addition to the bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. An F-13 squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the RB-29 Superfortress, was also established, SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace. The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until the Soviets 1948 introduction of the MiG-15 jet fighter. Project Nanook, the Cold War’s first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic, later missions were Project LEOPARD along the Chukchi Peninsula, followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS. In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven B-29s capable at any one time of delivering them, unfortunately, postwar budget and personnel cuts had had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted, as a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SACs eleven groups were combat ready. In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire a share of USAF infrastructure. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on Limestone AAF, Maine, fort Dix AAF, New Jersey, Spokane AAF, Washington, and Wendover Field, Utah were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following establishment of the USAF as a service, SAC bases in the United States consisted of

20.
SM-68 Titan
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The SM-68 Titan was the designation for two American intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were members of the Titan family of rockets. These consisted of the Titan I and Titan II missiles, which were operational between 1962 and 1987, and were a component of the United States fleet of missiles during the Cold War. Titan was originally built as a backup to the SM-65 Atlas, the Titan I used RP-1 and liquid oxygen propellant, resulting in a response time of around fifteen minutes, required to fuel the rocket and raise it to a launch position. It was replaced by the more powerful Titan II, which used nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine, allowing it to be stored with propellant loaded, the Titan I was the first version of the Titan family of rockets. It began as a backup ICBM project in case the Atlas was delayed and it was a two-stage rocket propelled by RP-1 and liquid oxygen. Using RP-1 and LOX meant that the Titan I did not have a launch sequence. It took about fifteen minutes to load LOX on the first missile at a complex, raise it topside and launch it, Titan I was operational from early 1962 to mid-1965. These were deployed in three squadrons of 18 missiles each, in Arizona, Kansas, and Arkansas, the Titan II was a two-stage ICBM that was used by the US Air Force from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. The Titan II used a combination of nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine for propellant. In addition to its use as an ICBM, twelve Titan II missiles were converted to launch Gemini spacecraft for NASA, following retirement, a further thirteen were converted to the Titan 23G configuration, and used to launch satellites, and the Clementine Lunar probe. The last Titan II launch occurred in 2003, Titan III Titan IIIB Titan 34D Titan IV

21.
Intercontinental ballistic missile
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An intercontinental ballistic missile is a guided ballistic missile with a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. Similarly, conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. Early ICBMs had limited precision that allowed them to be used only against the largest targets such as cities and they were seen as a safe basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against military targets, if desired, still demanded the use of a more precise manned bomber, the result is that the power of a nuclear explosion to rupture hardened structures is greatly decreased by the distance from the impact point of the nuclear weapon. So a near-direct hit is generally necessary, as only diminishing returns are gained by increasing bomb yield, second- and third-generation designs dramatically improved accuracy to the point where even the smallest point targets can be successfully attacked. Short and medium-range ballistic missiles are known collectively as theatre ballistic missiles, the ICBM A9/A10 rocket initially was intended to be guided by radio, but was changed to be a piloted craft after the failure of Operation Elster. The second stage of the A9/A10 rocket was tested a few times in January and February 1945, the progenitor of the A9/A10 was the German V-2 rocket, also designed by von Braun and widely used at the end of World War II to bomb British and Belgian cities. All of these rockets used liquid propellants, in the immediate post-war era, the US and USSR both started rocket research programs based on the German wartime designs, especially the V-2. In the US, each branch of the military started its own programs, in the USSR, rocket research was centrally organized, although several teams worked on different designs. Early designs from both countries were short-range missiles, like the V-2, but improvements quickly followed, in the USSR early development was focused on missiles able to attack European targets. This changed in 1953 when Sergei Korolyov was directed to development of a true ICBM able to deliver newly developed hydrogen bombs. Given steady funding throughout, the R-7 developed with some speed, the first launch took place on 15 May 1957 and led to an unintended crash 400 km from the site. The first successful test followed on 21 August 1957, the R-7 flew over 6,000 km, the first strategic-missile unit became operational on 9 February 1959 at Plesetsk in north-west Russia. It was the same R-7 launch vehicle that placed the first artificial satellite in space, Sputnik, the first human spaceflight in history was accomplished on a derivative of R-7, Vostok, on 12 April 1961, by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The U. S. initiated ICBM research in 1946 with the RTV-A-2 Hiroc project and this was a three-stage effort with the ICBM development not starting until the third stage. However, funding was cut after only three successful launches in 1948 of the second stage design, used to test variations on the V-2 design. With overwhelming air superiority and truly intercontinental bombers, the newly forming US Air Force did not take the problem of ICBM development seriously. Things changed in 1953 with the Soviet testing of their first thermonuclear weapon, the Atlas A first flew on 11 June 1957, the flight lasted only about 24 seconds before the rocket blew up

22.
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
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The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is a military aerial refueling aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype and it is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transport aircraft. The KC-135 was the US Air Forces first jet-powered refueling tanker, the KC-135 entered service with the United States Air Force in 1957, it is one of six military fixed-wing aircraft with over 50 years of continuous service with its original operator. The KC-135 is supplemented by the larger KC-10, studies have concluded that many of the aircraft could be flown until 2040, although maintenance costs have greatly increased. The aircraft will eventually be replaced by the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus, like its sibling, the commercial Boeing 707 jet airliner, the KC-135 was derived from the Boeing 367-80 jet transport proof of concept demonstrator, which was commonly called the Dash-80. The KC-135 is similar in appearance to the 707, but has a fuselage and is shorter than the 707. The KC-135 predates the 707, and is quite different from the civilian airliner. Boeing gave the future KC-135 tanker the initial designation Model 717, in 1954 USAFs Strategic Air Command held a competition for a jet-powered aerial refueling tanker. Lockheeds tanker version of the proposed Lockheed L-193 airliner with rear fuselage-mounted engines was declared the winner in 1955, in the end, orders for the Lockheed tanker were dropped rather than supporting two tanker designs. Lockheed never produced its jet airliner, while Boeing would eventually dominate the market with a family of airliners based on the 707. In 1954, the Air Force placed an order for 29 KC-135As. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, California, the last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. These basic features make it resemble the commercial Boeing 707 and 720 aircraft. The USAF EC-135 Looking Glass was subsequently replaced in its role by the U. S. Navy E-6 Mercury aircraft, the KC-135Q variant was modified to carry JP-7 fuel necessary for the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, segregating the JP-7 from the KC-135s own fuel supply. The tanker also had special fuel systems for moving the different fuels between different tanks, the only external difference between a KC-135R and a KC-135T is the presence of a clear window on the underside of the empennage of the KC-135T where a remote controlled searchlight is mounted. It also has two ground refueling ports, located in rear wheel well so ground crews can fuel both the body tanks and wing tanks separately. Eight KC-135R aircraft are receiver-capable tankers, commonly referred to as KC-135R, All eight aircraft were with the 22d Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB, Kansas, in 1994. They are primarily used for extension and Special Operations missions

23.
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
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The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and it has been operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds of weapons, the B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat. The B-52s official name Stratofortress is rarely used, informally, the aircraft has become referred to as the BUFF. The B-52 has been in service with the USAF since 1955. As of December 2015,58 were in service with 18 in reserve. The B-52 completed sixty years of service with its original operator in 2015. After being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is expected to serve into the 2040s, the aircraft was to have a crew of five or more turret gunners, and a six-man relief crew. It was required to cruise at 300 mph at 34,000 feet with a radius of 5,000 miles. The armament was to consist of a number of 20 mm cannon and 10,000 pounds of bombs. On 13 February 1946, the Air Force issued bid invitations for these specifications, with Boeing, Consolidated Aircraft, and Glenn L. Martin Company submitting proposals. On 5 June 1946, Boeings Model 462, an aircraft powered by six Wright T35 turboprops with a gross weight of 360,000 pounds. On 28 June 1946, Boeing was issued a letter of contract for US$1.7 million to build a full-scale mock-up of the new XB-52 and do preliminary engineering and testing. However, by October 1946, the air began to express concern about the sheer size of the new aircraft. In response, Boeing produced Model 464, a smaller version with a 230,000 pound gross weight. Boeing responded with two powered by the T-35 turboprops

24.
Lockheed U-2
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It provides day and night, high-altitude, all-weather intelligence gathering. The U-2 has also used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration. Early versions of the U-2 were involved in several events through the Cold War, being flown over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, in 1960, Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2A over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile. Another U-2, piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. was lost in a fashion during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The U-2 is one of a handful of types to have served the USAF for over 50 years. The newest models entered service in the 1980s, the current model, the U-2S, received its most recent technical upgrade in 2012. They have taken part in post–Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, after World War II, the U. S. military desired better strategic aerial reconnaissance to help determine Soviet capabilities and intentions. Richard Leghorn of the USAF suggested that an aircraft that could fly at 60,000 feet should be safe from the MiG-17, the Soviet Unions best interceptor, which could barely reach 45,000 feet. He and others believed that Soviet radar, which used American equipment provided during the war, the highest-flying aircraft available to America and its allies at the time was the English Electric Canberra, which could reach 48,000 feet. Air Research and Development Command mandated design changes made the aircraft more durable for combat. The Soviet Union, unlike the United States and Britain, had improved radar technology after the war and it was thought that an aircraft that could fly at 70,000 feet would be beyond the reach of Soviet fighters, missiles, and radar. Another USAF officer, John Seaberg, wrote a request for proposal in 1953 for an aircraft that could reach 70,000 feet over a target with 1,500 nmi of operational radius. The USAF decided to solicit designs only from smaller companies that could give the project more attention. Under the code name Bald Eagle, it contracts to Bell Aircraft, Martin Aircraft. Officials at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation heard about the project and decided to submit an unsolicited proposal, to save weight and increase altitude, Lockheed executive John Carter suggested that the design eliminate landing gear and avoid attempting to meet combat load factors for the airframe. The company asked Clarence Kelly Johnson to come up such a design. Johnson was Lockheeds best aeronautical engineer, responsible for the P-38 and he was also known for completing projects ahead of schedule, working in a separate division of the company, informally called the Skunk Works. Johnsons design, named CL-282, was based on the Lockheed XF-104 with long, slender wings, the design was powered by the General Electric J73 engine and took off from a special cart and landed on its belly

25.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
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The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was a long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was operated by the United States Air Force. It was developed as a project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed. American aerospace engineer Clarence Kelly Johnson was responsible for many of the innovative concepts. During aerial reconnaissance missions, the SR-71 operated at high speeds, if a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outfly the missile. The SR-71 was designed with a reduced radar cross-section, the SR-71 served with the U. S. Air Force from 1964 to 1998. A total of 32 aircraft were built,12 were lost in accidents, the SR-71 has been given several nicknames, including Blackbird and Habu. It has held the record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft since 1976. Lockheeds previous reconnaissance aircraft was the relatively slow U-2, designed for the Central Intelligence Agency, in late 1957, the CIA approached the defense contractor Lockheed to build an undetectable spy plane. The project, named Archangel, was led by Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheeds Skunk Works unit in Burbank, the work on project Archangel began in the second quarter of 1958, with aim of flying higher and faster than the U-2. Out of 11 successive designs drafted in a span of 10 months, despite this, however, its shape made it vulnerable to radar detection. After a meeting with the CIA in March 1959, the design was modified to have a 90% reduction in radar cross-section, the CIA approved a US$96 million contract for Skunk Works to build a dozen spy planes, named A-12 on 11 February 1960. The 1960 downing of Francis Gary Powerss U-2 underscored its vulnerability, the A-12 first flew at Groom Lake, Nevada, on 25 April 1962. Thirteen were built, two variants were developed, including three of the YF-12 interceptor prototype, and two of the M-21 drone carrier. The aircraft was meant to be powered by the Pratt & Whitney J58 engine, but development ran over schedule, the J58s were retrofitted as they became available, and became the standard powerplant for all subsequent aircraft in the series as well as the SR-71. The A-12 flew missions over Vietnam and North Korea before its retirement in 1968, the programs cancellation was announced on 28 December 1966, due both to budget concerns and because of the forthcoming SR-71, a derivative of the A-12. During the later period of its testing, the B-70 was proposed for a reconnaissance/strike role, when it was clear that the A-12 performance potential was much greater, the Air Force ordered a variant of the A-12 in December 1962. Originally named R-12 by Lockheed, the Air Force version was longer and heavier than the A-12, with a longer fuselage to hold more fuel, Reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence sensors, a side looking airborne radar and a photo camera. Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the SR designation, before the July speech, LeMay lobbied to modify Johnsons speech to read SR-71 instead of RS-71

26.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare

27.
Hawaiian Air Force
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United States Air Forces Korea and USAFK redirect here. The Seventh Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces and it is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The commands mission is to plan and direct air component operations in the Republic of Korea and in the Northwest Pacific. It was assigned units engaging enemy forces in the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, and in the last major battle of the Pacific War, the Battle of Okinawa. Returning to its role in Hawaii after the war,7 AF became the primary USAF command. 7 AF is commanded by Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson, the Vice Commander is Brig Gen Kyle W. Robinson Command Chief Master Sergeant is Anthony W. Johnson. Since then, both as U. S. Air Forces Korea, under the joint U. S and it develops the total air campaign and reinforcement plans for ROK defense and sustains mission readiness of 117 operational units and 8,300 U. S. Air Force personnel. It operates in conjunction with United States Pacific Command, United Nations Command, U. S. Forces, Korea/Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea. Airplanes assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron consisted of three Curtiss N-9 seaplanes which were single-engine biplanes carrying a crew of two and capable of a top speed of 70 miles an hour. The first inter-island flight occurred in February 1919 and by 1920 inter-island flights were used for training purposes. Early in 1920 the 4th Observation Squadron arrived at Ford Island, known by then as Luke Field, also by this time, Luke Field was used jointly by the aerial forces of the Army and Navy. The year 1920 marked an advance in aviation in the Islands. The first night flight over Oahu took place on 30 June 1920, also air power began to take its place in the Hawaiian Departments military maneuvers. The first detachment of twenty men started clearing land south of Schofield Barracks for Wheeler Field in February 1922 and this Field was named for Major Sheldon H. Wheeler, who had assumed command of Luke Field in 1920 and was killed in an air accident in 1921. By June 1923, Wheeler boasted six 112x200 foot hangars, three used for housing shops and three others for planes, plus four hangars used as warehouses, and oil tanks holding 50,000 gallons. Tents and huts housed the men, the First commander of Wheeler Field was Major George E. Stratemeyer, who by 1941 was a brigadier general and Acting Chief of the Army Air Corps. The first known reforesting by plane was accomplished for the Department of Agriculture by a plane from Wheeler in 1926, the first non-stop Hawaiian flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field was made in June 1927 by L. J. Maitland and A. F. Hegenberger. The famous Dole flight also took place in 1927, with Art Goebel and Lt. W. V. Davis, USN, during the period from 1917 to 1931, the military air component in Hawaii grew to seven tactical squadrons and two service squadrons

28.
Third Air Force
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The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany and it is responsible for all U. S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa operations and support activities in the U. S. European Command and U. S. Africa Commands areas of responsibility, during the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Phillip L. Easton, the command directs all USAFE and AFAFRICA forces engaged in contingency and wartime operations in the United States European Command and United States Africa Command areas of responsibility. It also has a mission as the U. S. militarys primary liaison to the British government. Through the Partnership for Peace program, Third Air Force manages military contact, Third Air Force is also responsible for contingency planning and support of American security interests in Africa. It is composed of more than 25,000 military people, Third Air Force is assigned more than 200 aircraft, while tasked to provide support servicing to thousands of other transient aircraft that visit its bases each year. It was redesignated Third Air Force on 26 March 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Southeast and it moved to offices in downtown Tampa on 8 January 1941. MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the prior to World War II. Tampas Drew Field Municipal Airport, established in 1928 was leased by the Air Corps in 1940, a major expansion of the airport was initiated and Drew Army Airfield was opened in 1941. Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the operations of MacDill. The Bonita Springs Auxiliary Field, located near Fort Myers provided an emergency landing field for MacDill. All of these came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force. III Fighter Command, the arm, was headquartered at Drew Field. Third Air Force initially provided air defense for the southeastern United States and flew patrols along coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Third Air Force primarily trained B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder medium bomber groups and A-20 Havoc, Third Air Force also provided support to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics in Florida. Also by 1944, the majority of the Numbered Air Forces of the AAF were fighting in parts of the world, such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe. When the Army Air Forces reorganized in 1946, Tactical Air Command was established as one of its three major commands

29.
Eighth Air Force
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The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command. It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, the command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command. The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of Americas heavy bomber force, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and it was the largest of the deployed combat Army Air Forces in numbers of personnel, aircraft, and equipment. Elements of 8 AF engaged in operations during the Korean War, Vietnam War. Eighth Air Force is one of two active duty numbered air forces in Air Force Global Strike Command, Eighth Air Force, with headquarters at Barksdale AFB, in the Bossier City – Shreveport, Louisiana, metro area, supports U. S. Joint Forces Command, and is designated as U. S. Strategic Commands Task Force 204, providing on-alert, the mission of The Mighty Eighth is to safeguard Americas interests through strategic deterrence and global combat power. Eighth Air Force controls long-range nuclear-capable bomber assets throughout the United States and its flexible, conventional and nuclear deterrence mission provides the capability to deploy forces and engage enemy threats from home station or forward positioned, anywhere, any time. The 8th Air Force motto is Peace Through Strength and this air power includes the heart of Americas heavy bomber force, the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress. The B-2 force consists of 20 bombers assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, for additional history and lineage, see United States Air Forces in Europe The history of Eighth Air Force begins on 2 January 1942 with its activation at Savannah Air Base, Georgia. In quick order, on 5 January, Major General Carl Spaatz assumed command of HQ Eighth Air Force at Bolling Field, Washington, on 8 January the order activating the U. S. Air Forces in the British Isles was announced. On 12 May, the first contingent of USAAF personnel arrived in England to join the Eighth Air Force, on 15 June, Spaatz arrived in England to establish the Headquarters of Eighth Air Force at Bushy Park,15 miles WSW of London. Eighth Air Force was the command and control organization over its operational components, VIII Bomber Command Strategic bombardment using heavy, VIII Fighter Command Provide fighter escort of heavy bombers VIII Air Support Command Provide reconnaissance, troop transport, and tactical bombardment using twin-engine medium bombers. VIII Air Service Command Service and logistical support, VIII Bomber Command was activated at Langley Field, Virginia, It was reassigned to Savannah Air Base, Georgia on 10 February 1942. The first combat group of VIII Bomber Command to arrive in the United Kingdom was the ground echelon of the 97th Bombardment Group, during World War II, the offensive air forces of the United States Army Air Forces came to be classified as strategic or tactical. In Europe, Eighth Air Force was the first USAAF strategic air force, Eighth Air Force carried out strategic daytime strategic bombing operations in Western Europe from airfields in eastern England. On 4 January 1944, the B-24s and B-17s based in England flew their last mission as a part of VIII Bomber Command. On 22 February 1944, a reorganization of American airpower took place in Europe. VIII Bomber Command was redesignated as Eighth Air Force, with VIII Fighter and this is from where the present-day Eighth Air Forces history, lineage and honors derive

30.
2d Combat Bombardment Wing
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It was last active in November 1945. The wing was organized in 1919 at Langley Field, Virginia and it was inactivated at Langley in 1921 and most of its personnel were assigned to Air Park No.3. It was reactivated the year and conducted mostly bombardment operations. As the 2nd Wing, the unit one of the original wings of the GHQ Air Force on 1 March 1935. It once again conducted much of the United States Armys pursuit, bombardment, the wings 2d Bombardment Group was the first group of the Air Corps to equip with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The wing provided cadres for new tactical units activating as the Air Corps expanded under the Woodring Plan and it participated in maneuvers during 1940 that influenced Air Corps doctrine on the employment of airpower. The wing was inactivated in 1941 and its used as the cadre for 1st Bomber Command. The group was reactivated as a heavy bomber operational command and control organization in June 1942 and it moved to England, August–September 1942, and became a heavy bombardment wing of Eighth AF. In the fall of 1942, it helped to train bombardment groups assigned to Twelfth Air Force and it served in combat in the European theater from November 1942 to June 1943. The wing ceased combat temporarily during July and August 1943 while its groups were detached to the Mediterranean theater, the wing resumed combat in the European theater in October 1943 and continued operations until April 1945. In August 1945 it returned to the US and was inactivated in November, authorized on 15 August 1919 as the 2d Observation Wing Organized on 4 September 1919 Redesignated as 2d Wing on 14 March 1921 Inactivated on 30 September 1921. 7 September 1942 RAF Hethel, England,14 September 1943 RAF Alconbury, England, c.12 June-c.25 August 1945 McChord Field, September 1940 21st Reconnaissance Squadron,1 September 1936 - ca. European Theater of World War II Campaigns, This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/. Army Air Forces Stations, A Guide to the Stations Where U. S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II, maxwell AFB, AL, Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016, US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941. 3 The Services, Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops 1919-1941, fort Leavenworth, KS, Combat Studies Institute Press. Maurer, Maurer, ed. Air Force Combat Units of World War II, Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History. Maurer, Maurer, ed. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History

31.
96th Combat Bombardment Wing
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The 96th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Tenth Air Force at Scott Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 27 June 1949. As the 96th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one of the primary Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy strategic bombardment wings of the Eighth Air Force 2d Bombardment Division in World War II. The 96th Bombardment Wings units entered combat in early 1944, bombing oil refineries, marshaling yards, steel plants, in September 1944, some of the units ceased bombardment missions and instead flew gasoline for Army units to airfields in France. Others air-dropped supplies to Allied troops during the attack on the Netherlands that same month. During the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 through January 1945, besides strategic bombardment, they also dropped supplies to Allied troops during the airborne assault across the Rhine River in March 1945. Returned to the United States in summer 1945, programmed to become a Boeing B-29 Superfortress command wing, however inactivated at the end of the Pacific War. Active in the Reserves from June 1947 to June 1949, the organization was redesignated as a division in April 1948, Maurer, Maurer, ed. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History

32.
3d Air Division
–
The 3d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Hickam AFB and it was inactivated on 1 April 1992. The 3d Air Division was created in England during World War II as the 3d Bombardment Division, with five combat bomb wings and 14 heavy bomber groups assigned, it was one of the two largest U. S. air combat organizations during World War II. The 3d Air Division was activated in September 1943 as an intermediate command and it was assigned to VIII Bomber Command, Eighth Air Force. The Division commanded three combat bombardment wings, consisting of seven B-17 Flying Fortress bomb groups, the addition of the 92nd and 93d Combat Bomb Wings in 1944 and additional bomb groups to the other wings increased the number of combat groups to fourteen. Between May 1944 and September 1944 the division operated both B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator aircraft, before converting to an organization for the remainder of the war. In September 1944 the 66th Fighter Wing was assigned directly to the division for fighter support, the bomb groups were engaged in strategic bombardment combat operations against Axis targets in the European Theater of Operations. After V-E Day, the 3d Air Division briefly became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, in August 1948, in response to the Berlin blockade, the U. S. deployed long-range B-29 Superfortress strategic bombers to four English East Anglian bases. The 3d Air Division was activated as part of United States Air Forces in Europe to receive, support, at this time these units were only expected to take part in 30- to 60-day temporary duty cycles. It also provided maintenance support at RAF Burtonwood for C-54 Skymaster aircraft used in the Berlin Airlift. It was briefly elevated to the Major Command level from 3 January 1949 –21 January 1951. With the advent of the Korean War and the growing Cold War threat of the Soviet Union, the resulting growing size and complexity of the American military presence required a larger command and organizational structure, that could meet the needs of the increased operations. The 3d Air Division was inactivated on 1 May 1951, in its place United States Air Forces Europe activated Third Air Force to command its units in the United Kingdom. Strategic Air Command had activated the 7th Air Division a few days earlier to control its forces deployed in Europe, the 3d Air Division was activated again at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in June 1954 as the headquarters for all SAC units in the Pacific. The division replaced the Far East Air Forces Bomber Command ]] and it also supported air refueling needs of all United States military agencies operating in or transiting the region. In April 1964, the division switched from Air Mail B-47 / KC-97 to Reflex B-52 / KC-135 alert forces, again with aircraft, in 1965, it became heavily involved in Arc Light and Young Tiger operations in the Far East and SE Asia. Strategic Air Command wings in the U. S. furnished the aircrews, the first elements of the 3d Air Division to enter combat in SEA were the tanker forces under Young Tiger. In June 1965, Arc Light B-52s struck suspected Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam, B-52s began striking targets in North Vietnam on 11 April 1966, the initial attack against the Mu Gia Pass marked the largest single bomber raid since World War II

33.
Army Service Forces
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The Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on February 28,1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 Reorganizing the Army, in March 1942, there was a sweeping reorganization of the Army. This was the result of dissatisfaction with the structure, with the United States Army Air Forces in particular seeking greater autonomy. However, the driver was the Chief of Staff, General George Marshall. A seventh technical service, the Transportation Corps was established as the Transportation Division 28 February 1942 under Executive Order 9082 and it was renamed the Transportation Service in April 1942 and became a corps in its own right on 31 July 1942. The Transportation Corps took over control of the ports of embarkation, regulating points, each of the Technical Services ran its own procurement and field depots. According to the website of the U. S, the patch was approved on July 30,1941 and has had numerous designations. It was redesignated as the Army Service Forces patch in March 1943, Technical and Administrative Services in June 1946, the shoulder-sleeve insignia is now authorized for personnel assigned to Department of the Army Field Operating Agencies. From 1980 through 2006 it was worn by members of the United States Army Trial Defense Service, the Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces, Washington, D. C. Elberton, The Army and Economic Mobilization, Washington, D. C, office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, ISBN 0-16-023939-7

34.
Fourth Air Force
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The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve. It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California,4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reservists. If called to duty,4 AFs ready reserve units would be assigned to Air Mobility Command. During the war, its mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. 4 AF is commanded by Major General John C, Fourth Air Force is dedicated to ensuring its units and personnel are fully prepared to accomplish all assigned missions in support of national objectives. The sixty person staff consists of Traditional Reservists, Air Reserve Technicians and they direct the activities and supervise the equipping and training of more than 30,000 Air Force reservists in unit programs located across the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Reservists from 4 AF units are deployed to Air Expeditionary units in combat areas of Central. It was redesignated Fourth Air Force on 26 March 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Southwest, during World War II Fourth Air Force was the primary air defense command for the West Coast. The command also flew antisubmarine patrols along coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico from after Pearl Harbor until October 1942, one of its primary fighter units was the 10th Fighter Wing at Hamilton Field, California. On 29 September 1942, Rice Municipal Airport located in the Desert Training Center was acquired by the IV Air Support Command, re-designated Rice AAF it was used to train pilots and crews of aircraft whose mission it was to support ground troops. The Fourth Air Force became predominantly a fighter OTU and RTU organization, most P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning groups were trained by Fourth Air Force primarily due to the proximity of their manufacturing plants in Southern California. Air Defense Wings were also organized for the metropolitan areas along the West Coast. By 1944 the likelihood of an air attack along the West Coast was remote, on 13 December 1944, First, Second, Third and Fourth Air Force were all were placed under the unified command of the Continental Air Forces. It was also responsible for training Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard personnel throughout the region, on 1 September 1960, Air Defense Command inactivated Fourth Air Force, transferring its reserve training mission to the Sixth Air Force Reserve Region. Fourth Air Force was re-activated on 20 January 1966 again at Hamilton AFB and its area of responsibility was essentially unchanged from its 1948 region. Subordinate organizations assigned by ADC were the 25th 26th and 27th Air Divisions, on 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated Aerospace Defense Command as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces. ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated Fourth Air Force were reassigned primarily to the 25th and 26th Air Divisions. The command remained inactive until 8 October 1976, when it was activated as Fourth Air Force at McClellan Air Force Base, CA, Fourth Air Force has been a key component of the Air Force reserve ever since

35.
5th Bomb Wing
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The 5th Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Force Global Strike Commands Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, the wing is also the host unit at Minot. The 5 BW is one of only two Boeing B-52H Stratofortress wings in the United States Air Force, the other being the 2d Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. Its 5th Operations Group is an organization of the 5th Group. After the attack, the group patrolled the waters off the Hawaiian Islands until November 1942, active for over 60 years, the 5 BW was a component wing of Strategic Air Commands heavy bomber deterrent force throughout the Cold War. The 5 BW is part of the Air Force Global Strike Commands Eighth Air Force and is the host unit at Minot and its current command staff consists of Colonel Jason Armagost. Wing Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Kevin J. Jurgella, the wing includes a total force of approximately 3,640 military members as well as 420 civilian employees. The 5 BW consists of the units, 5th Operations Group,16 July 1949 –16 June 1952,1 September 1991–present. The 5th Comptroller Squadron also reports directly to the 5 BW commander, for additional history and lineage, see 5th Operations Group The wing was established on 1 July 1949 and activated at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho two weeks later. In November it moved to its permanent station at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, until 1958, the wing underwent several name and assignment changes while continually upgrading its aircraft. Performed long-range strategic reconnaissance, July 1949 – October 1955, with some limited reconnaissance to September 1958, operational squadrons were 23d, 31st and 72d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadrons flying Boeing RB-17G/F-2/F-9/F-13 aircraft and beginning in 1948, Boeing RB-29 Stratofortress aircraft until 1951. The wing performed operations to probe the borders of the Soviet Union. Initially, the RB-17Gs and later aircraft mapped the perimeter of the Soviet Air Defenses from the Baltic to the Sea of Okhotsk and this mission, along with many others, found that west of the Bering Strait there was virtually no radar coverage. The wing was fully integrated with the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing from 12 November 1949 to 10 February 1951. It maintained a headquarters, but had no operational control over assigned units. On 16 June 1954 the wing, along with SACs other B-36 reconnaissance wings were assigned bombing as their primary mission, however, they retained their designations as reconnaissance wings until later. In June 1951, the wing began converting to the Convair RB-36D Peacemaker, while stationed at Travis Air Force Base, the wing entered the jet age in on 13 February 1959 when Strategic Air Command assigned the wing SACs first Boeing B-52G Stratofortresses. The 23d and 31st Squadrons began to convert to B-52s at Travis, with the conversion to B-52s, the wing gained the 916th Air Refueling Squadron and its KC-135A air refueling aircraft

36.
6th Strategic Wing
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The United States Air Forces 6th Air Mobility Wing is the host wing for MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It is part of Air Mobility Commands Eighteenth Air Force and it is a force capable of rapidly projecting air refueling power anywhere in the world. The 6 AMW is organized into four groups and three operational flying squadrons to carry out its mission to be provide air refueling, airlift. The 6th Bombardment Wing was activated Walker Air Force Base, New Mexico on 2 January 1951, the unit consisted of the 24th, 39th and 40th Bombardment Squadrons and was initially equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft. The 307th Air Refueling Squadron was also attached until 1952 and operated KB-29P Superfortress Tankers, one of its assigned squadrons had been activated two years earlier during World War I and had been commanded by (then-Captain Henry H. Arnold. During World War II, the 6th Bombardment Group was assigned to the Twentieth Air Force, one year after activation, the Sixth converted from the B-29 to the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. On 1 April 1955, the 6th Bombardment Wing was transferred from Eighth Air Force to Fifteenth Air Force, at Walker AFB, the wing was bestowed the history and honors of the USAAFs 6th Bombardment Group in 1952. Operations consisted of bombardment training with air refueling as additional mission in 1951–1952. The Boeing B-52E Stratofortress replaced the wings B-36 in September 1957, in September 1959, the 24th and 30th Bombardment Squadrons joined the newly assigned 4129th Combat Crew Training Squadron to train B-52 and KC-135 crews. Early in 1965, a second KC-135 squadron was transferred to Walker AFB when Schilling Air Force Base, Kansas and this made the Sixth a double-sized wing and one of the largest in SAC with its 60 heavy jet aircraft. As the Soviet missile threat increased, so did the 6ths mission, the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron was activated in 1962 as an SM-65 Atlas-F squadron. This addition of ICBMs resulted in the wings re-designation as the 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing, after its reactivation, the squadron received its first ICBM on 24 January 1962 and became fully operational during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October–November 1962. However, bad luck dogged the missile squadrons footsteps and three of the sites were lost by explosions on 1 June 1963,13 February 1964. On 18 November 1964, it was announced that liquid-fueled Atlas-F missiles would be phased out three years due to the increased reliability of the solid-fueled LGM-30A Minuteman I ICBM. Accordingly, the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron inactivated on 25 March 1965, soon after, the base was apprised by a second announcement on 8 December 1965 that it was scheduled to close as an active installation. With the announcement of Walker AFBs closure, the 310th Air Refueling Squadron moved to Plattsburgh Air Force Base, the 6th Air Refueling Squadron was inactivated at the same time, and its resources were apportioned out to SAC organizations in need of them. The 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing bomb squadrons also inactivated on 25 March 1967, the aircraft’s pilot thought otherwise, however, and landed the plane at Eielson AFB a few minutes later. The uninjured Captain Amidon, flew back to base about a later in a helicopter

37.
9th Bombardment Wing
–
The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Twenty-Fifth Air Force. It is stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California, the wing is also the host unit at Beale. It is also assigned T-38 Talons for U-2 pilots to maintain flight hours due to limited U-2 aircraft and its 9th Operations Group is a descendant organization of the 9th Group, one of the 13 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. During World War II, the 9th Bombardment Group was an air unit of the United States Army Air Forces. Active for over 60 years, the 9 RW was a component wing of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force throughout the Cold War, the 9 RW is commanded by Colonel Phillip A. Stewart. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Leslie Gould, the 9 RW is responsible for providing national and theater command authorities with timely, reliable, high-quality, high-altitude reconnaissance products. To accomplish this mission, the wing is equipped with the fleet of U-2, RQ-4 and MC-12 reconnaissance aircraft. The wing also maintains a state of readiness in its expeditionary combat support forces for potential deployment in response to theater contingencies. Travis On 1 May 1949 the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was activated at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California, the Air Force also activated the re-designated 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Group and the 1st, 5th, and 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadrons. The 9th SRWs mission was to obtain data through visual, photographic, electronic. To carry out this mission, the wing flew RB-29 Superfortresses, the 9th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron also joined the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing on 1 May 1949. It also performed its mission with components of 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, the reconnaissance mission continued for only eleven months. On 1 April 1950, the Air Force redesignated the 9th SRW as the 9th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, with similar redesignations of the 9th Group and the 1st, 5th, and 99th Squadrons. Seven months later, on 2 November, the wing and subordinate units were again re-designated to Bombardment, Medium with the transfer of the RB-36s, in early February 1951, the Air Force realigned its flying operation and placed the flying squadrons directly under control of the wings. The Air Force, therefore, placed the 9th Bombardment Group in Records Unit status, on 4 January 1955, the Air Force bestowed upon the 9th Wing the honors of the inactive 9th Group, the operational headquarters unit before and during World War II. The 9th Bombardment Wing remained at Fairfield-Suisun AFB flying B-29s until 1 May 1953, on 1 May, the Strategic Air Command assumed jurisdiction of Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, from the Military Air Transport Service and transferred the 9th Bomb Wing to the base. Developed for bomber training during the war, Mountain Home AFB had recently been an Air Resupply And Communications Service special operations base for MATS, MATS wanted to use Fairfield-Suisun as a West Coast aerial port. Although some personnel began arriving at Mountain Home early in April, simultaneously, the 2d Air Refueling Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, became the 9th Air Refueling Squadron and transferred to the 9th Bombardment Wing at Mountain Home AFB

38.
17th Training Wing
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The 17th Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Second Air Force. It is stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, the wing is also the host unit at Goodfellow. The wing is responsible for the training of personnel in all the branches of the armed forces, as well as firefighters. The 17th Training Wing is commanded by Colonel Michael L. Downs and its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant JoAnne S. Bass. Stood up as a wing on 1 July 1993. Its mission is to intelligence personnel in all the branches of the armed forces, as well as firefighters. The wing trains Air Force enlisted intelligence, cryptology and linguist AFSCs 1N0, 1N1, 1N2, 1N3, 1N4, 1N5, 1A8, Air Force intelligence officer AFSC 14N, and military firefighters from all branches. Many corresponding Army, Navy and Marine Corps intelligence personnel are trained at Goodfellow AFB. The units emblem, approved 2 November 1937, features seven crosses denoting the seven World War I campaign honors of its 95th Bomb Squadron. Active for over 50 years, the wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment and later a strategic reconnaissance wing. The wing was activated two days later at Pusan-East Air Base, South Korea, where it replaced the Air Force Reserve 452d Bombardment Wing Light when its activation ended and its 17th Bombardment Group acquired the World War II-era 452ds Douglas A-26 Invaders. The Invader had proven to be the only bomber suited to the interdiction role in Korea. Unfortunately, the Invader was capable of operations and was available only in dwindling numbers. Operational squadrons of the 17th BG were the 34th, 37th and 95th Bombardment Squadrons and it was inactivated on 20 March 1955. The unit was reactivated in the United States on 1 April 1955 and it was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base Aiuxiliary Field No. 9, Florida where it was programmed to receive the Martin B-57 Canberra, on 1 October 1955, it was redesignated the 17th Bombardment Wing, Tactical and received B-57B aircraft in early 1956. It flew B-57s in 1956 and 1957, however the aircraft was troublesome and unreliable, the first B-66 arrived from Norton Air Force Base, California, on 16 March 1956. In late 1957, TAC began to transfer its Destroyers to the 47th Bombardment Wing of United States Air Forces Europe, the 17th was assigned to Strategic Air Command and redesignated as the 17th Bombardment Wing, Heavy and organized on 1 February 1963 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

39.
22d Air Refueling Wing
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The 22d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Commands Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas and also functions as the host wing for McConnell and its primary mission is to provide global reach by conducting air refueling and airlift where and when needed. It is one of only three supertanker wings in the Air Force, with four Regular Air Force air refueling squadrons and its origins date to 1940 as the 22d Bombardment Group. The group was one of the first United States Army Air Forces units to be deployed into the Pacific Theater after the Pearl Harbor Attack with the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber, the 22d Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit. Active for over 60 years, the 22 ARW and its designation as the 22d Bombardment Wing, was a component wing of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War. The 22d Air Refueling Wing is commanded by Colonel Albert G. Miller and its Vice Commander is Colonel Bruce P. Heseltine, Jr. The wings Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Shawn M. Hughes, in addition to its primary mission to provide global reach by conducting air refueling and airlift where and when needed. Additionally, the 22d Comptroller Squadron reports directly to the wing staff, for additional history and lineage, see 22d Operations Group Established as 22d Bombardment Wing, Medium, on 28 July 1948. The new wing was assigned to March Air Force Base, California on 10 May 1949 and it was not operational, so it shared a commander with the 1st Fighter Wing. The 22d Bomb became operational on 1 July 1949, the 1st Fighter Wing was attached to it and both wings shared the same commanding officer. Detached from the wing, the 22d Bombardment Group deployed its B-29s in early July 1950 to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on 13 July, the group flew its first mission, against the marshalling yards and oil refinery at Wonsan, North Korea. During four months of combat, the group flew 335 sorties with only fourteen aborts and it redeployed to the United States in late October and November 1950. It trained for proficiency in strategic bombardment, adding air refueling to its mission in 1952. The wing deployed at RAF Mildenhall, England, September–December 1951, from April to July 1957, it deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. SAC began phasing the B-47 out of the beginning in 1962, sending the last of the wings aircraft to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The wing was not tactically operational 11 March 1963 –15 September 1963, while converting to B-52D bombers, the wing supported Fifteenth Air Forces post-attack command and control system with EC-135s from, September 1964 – March 1970. The 22d was a wing from 1966–1971, with two bombardment and two tanker squadrons. In 1971 the Air Force retired all of its B-52C aircraft, the last airplane of this series was flown from March to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona for storage on 29 September 1971

40.
55th Wing
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The 55th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. The 55 WG is the only Air Force wing with continuous operations, maintenance, the wings mission is to provide worldwide reconnaissance, real-time intelligence, command and control, information warfare and combat support to U. S. leaders and commanders. One of the units, the 55th Operations Group, operates 46 aircraft. It is the largest wing in Air Combat Command and flies the most diverse number of aircraft, 55th Communications Group Provides worldwide command, control, communications and computer systems, information management and combat support to warfighting and national leadership. It also provides technology and support to the 55th Wing and 44 tenant units. 55th Electronic Combat Group Provides combat-ready EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, crews, maintenance, 55th Medical Group Serves 50K beneficiaries with extensive outpatient clinic capabilities and ancillary support. 55th Operations Group ACCs largest group, has control over 12 squadrons. It employs 46 aircraft, including 13 models of seven different types, since its inception, the unit has operated around the world, flying a wide variety of aircraft. From 1950 to 1954 the Wings task was to perform reconnaissance, charting photography, precise electronic geodetic mapping. In 1952, the moved to Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas. The United States protested the attack, stating the plane was on a reconnaissance flight over international waters,25 miles from the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Soviets responded by saying the plane was intercepted over their territory near Cape Krestovoi, a little more than three months later, on 29 July 1953 an RB-50 of the wings 343d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron was shot down by Soviet fighters about ninety miles south of Vladivostok. The Soviet Union did not deny the planes location was over water, but claimed that the bomber had flown over Soviet territory and fired on their MiGs. The wing formally assumed a strategic reconnaissance mission in 1954. The Wing was deployed at Ben Guerir Air Base, in what was then French Morocco and it also carried out weather reconnaissance operations until June 1963, and photographic reconnaissance missions until May 1964. The 55 SRW moved to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska and that same year the 55th’s 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron assumed responsibility for SAC’s airborne command and control system. The 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron inherited this mission after activation in April 1970, the Wing flew reconnaissance operations during the U. S. military operations in Grenada in 1983 and Libya in 1986. On 1 March 1986, the 55 SRW became the host unit at Offutt after the inactivation of the 3902d Air Base Wing, the Wing ended nearly twenty-five years of continuous Airborne Command Post operations in 1990, assumed a modified alert posture, and continued worldwide reconnaissance

41.
92d Air Refueling Wing
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The 92d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, the wing is also the host unit at Fairchild. Its 92d Operations Group is an organization to the World War II 92d Bombardment Group. Active for over 60 years, the 92d Bombardment Wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing. The 92d Air Refueling Wing is commanded by Colonel Ryan R. Samuelson, Its Vice Commander is Colonel Matthew T. Fritz, the 92d Wing operates 34 KC-135 R/T Stratotanker refueling aircraft valued at $1.6 billion and 58 aircrews to support worldwide military missions. As the host unit to Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. the wing controls 4,223 acres and 1,248 buildings, the wing employs over 2,200 active-duty military, as well as over 700 civilian employees. It supports Air Mobility Commands mission, providing global reach air power, the 92d ARW capability of aerial refueling enhances the Air Forces ability to accomplish its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power. The 92d Air Refueling Wing is structured under four groups, Operations, maintenance, mission support and medical, 92d Operations Group Primarily responsible for the 4 flying squadrons - the 92d, 93d, 96th and 97th Air Refueling Squadrons which fly the KC-135 Stratotanker. The 92d OSS is also responsible for managing the airfield, weather station, control tower, the group also provides services for transient contract and military aircraft. 92d Medical Group Serves more than 12,640 military beneficiaries, with a staff of 308, the medical clinic receives over 53,688 outpatient visits and 12,975 dental visits annually. The group currently manages the 92d Aeromedical Dental Squadron, 92d Medical Operations Squadron, Wing staff agencies consist of a variety of functions. The 92d Bombardment Group, flying Boeing B-29 Superfortresses became its operational component and it served as a double-sized B-29 wing until April 1950, and again from May 1950 to April 1951, although one bomb group was generally deployed overseas for training or combat in Korea. It also supervised the 454th Bombardment Group, a Reserve corollary bomb group from June 1949 until February 1951, the wing reequipped with the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. In August and September 1953, the completed the first mass flight of B-36s to the Far East in Operation Big Stick. The 92d visited bases in Japan, Okinawa and Guam, Big Stick followed close on the heels of the end of hostilities in Korea and was intended to show American determination to keep the peace in the Far East. On 15 and 16 October 1954 the wing deployed to Andersen Air Force Base and this was the first deployment of an entire wing of Peacemakers to an overseas base. The wing deployed to Andersen again from 26 April until 6 July 1956, added air refueling operations to bombardment mission in September 1957. From July 1961 to August 1965, controlled an SM-65E Atlas missile squadron, supported SAC activities in Southeast Asia from early 1965 to December 1975 through deployment of bomber and tanker aircraft and crews and Air Weather 9thWS Det3

42.
93d Air-Ground Operations Wing
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The 93d Air Ground Operations Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command, Ninth Air Force. It is stationed as a tenant unit at Moody Air Force Base, the 93d AGOW provides highly trained ground combat forces capable of integrating air and space power into the ground scheme of fire and maneuver. The wing also conducts offensive and defensive combat operations worldwide to protect expeditionary aerospace forces anywhere. Its 93d Operations Group is an organization to the World War II 93d Bombardment Group. Active for over 60 years, the 93d Bombardment Wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing. For additional history and lineage, see 93d Operations Group On 28 July 1947, in 1948, the entire wing deployed to Okinawa, making it the first SAC bomb wing to deploy to the Far East in full strength. The B-36 Peacemaker entered SACs inventory in 1948 but was not assigned to the 93d, the huge plane dwarfed the earlier B-29 bombers. As only the B-36 groups were Heavy, the 93d, was redesignated the 93d Bombardment Wing In 1949, the received its first B-50 Superfortress aircraft. It struck up operations overseas with the deployment of its force to RAF Mildenhall. Meanwhile, the 93d Air Refueling Squadron was activated on 1 March 1949, flew numerous training missions and participated in various SAC exercises and deployments with the Stratojet until the wing received SAC’s first B-52s. The 93d retained some of its B-47s until 1956 for crew training purposes and it was one of the few wings to have operated both jet bombers simultaneously. SAC assigned its first Boeing B-52 Stratofortress to the wing in June 1955, the wing was redesignated the 93d Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 1 February 1955 in anticipation of the arrival of the B-52. Its B-52Bs were initially used for crew training, the wing was declared combat ready with the B-52 on 12 March 1956, but became nonoperational two months later when a second squadron began to equip with Stratofortresses. It became operational again on 26 June 1957, when its mission became primarily crew training, in 1956, the wings three bombardment squadrons – 328th, 329th and 330th began receiving the new B-52D. The following year, they began receiving the B-52E model, while some B-52Bs remained with the 93 BW until well into the 1960s. On 24 and 25 November 1956, in a known as Quick Kick. Four in-flight refuelings by Boeing KC-97 Stratotankers were required for the 13, less than two months later, in Operation Power Flight, three 93d B-52Bs flew the first non-stop jet around-the-world flight. Taking off on 16 January 1957, they flew via Newfoundland, Casablanca, Dhahran, Ceylon, upon landing at March Air Force Base, California on 18 January, General Curtis LeMay, SAC Commander, greeted the crews and presented them with the Distinguished Flying Cross

43.
100th Air Refueling Wing
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The 100th Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. It is stationed at RAF Mildenhall, England and it is also the host wing at RAF Mildenhall. The 100 ARW is the only permanent U. S. air refueling wing in the European theater, during World War II, its predecessor unit, the 100th Bombardment Group, was an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed at RAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations, the group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 Aircraft MIA, flying its last mission on 20 April 1945. One of the wings honors is that it is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its aircraft the tail code of its World War II predecessor. USAFEs only KC-135 air refueling wing, it is responsible for U. S. aerial refueling operations conducted throughout the European theater, the unit supports some 16,000 personnel, including Third Air Force, four geographically separated units, and 15 associated units. The group remained unmanned until 27 October 1942, when a number of men transferred from the 29th Bombardment Group to Gowen Field, Idaho. Following receipt of crews and aircraft, the 100th BG relocated to Wendover Field, Utah, on 30 November where it added additional personnel, aircraft, crews, in both instances, members of the 100th BG assisted in air and ground training for other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April, the aircrew element joined its ground echelon at Kearney, after additional training, the groups aircrews departed Kearney on 25 May 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England and into the war in Europe. Prior to the departure of aircraft and aircrews from Kearney, the 100 BGs ground echelon departed for the East Coast on 2 May 1943, on 27 May 1943, the ground personnel set sail aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth bound for Podington, England from New York. On 25 June 1943, the 100 BG flew its first Eighth Air Force combat mission in a bombing of the Bremen U-boat yards – the beginning of the Bloody Hundredths legacy. The group inherited the Bloody Hundredth nickname from other groups due to the amount of losses it took. From January–May 1944, the 100th BG regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, the group participated in the Allied campaign against German aircraft factories, Operation Argument, during Big Week in the last week of February 1944. In March 1944, aircrews completed a succession of attacks on Berlin, the next month aircrews bombed enemy positions at Saint-Lô, followed by similar campaigns at Brest in August and September. The 100 BG flew its last combat mission of World War II on 20 April 1945, the following month the units aircrews dropped food to the people in the west of the Netherlands, and in June transported French Allied former prisoners of war from Austria to France. In December 1945, the returned to the U. S. where it inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. On 29 May 1947, Headquarters Army Air Forces reactivated the 100 BG at Miami Army Air Field, from the time of its activation the group trained and operated as a reserve B-29 Superfortress unit being attached to the 49th Bombardment Wing. It is not clear whether or not the unit was manned or equipped

44.
320th Air Expeditionary Wing
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The 320th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is stationed at Bolling AFB, District of Columbia, the 320 AEW may be activated or inactivated at any time. In less than 12 hours from notification, the 320 AEW deployed 167 joint forces and it was activated in December 2008 to support Air Force requirements during the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, working with the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, or AFIC. The wing was activated during World War II and served with Twelfth Air Force as the 320th Bombardment Group. The highly decorated unit was equipped with the Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft, the group was later merged with the 320th Bombardment Wing, a component organization of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing. Constituted as 320th Bombardment Group on 19 June 1942 and activated on 23 June at MacDill Field, the operational squadrons of the group were the 441st, 442d, 443d and 444th Bomb Squadrons. The 320th was equipped with the Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft, the group was subsequently relocated to nearby Drane Field, Florida. Most of the moved to North Africa via England, August–December 1942, crews then flew their planes over the South Atlantic route and arrived in North Africa. They began combat with Twelfth Air Force in April 1943 and operated from bases in Algeria, Tunisia, Sardinia and it then bombed marshalling yards, bridges, airdromes, road junctions, viaducts, harbors, fuel dumps, defense positions, and other targets in Italy. The group supported forces at Salerno and knocked out targets to aid the seizure of Naples, missions were flown to Anzio and Cassino and the group engaged in interdictory operations in central Italy in preparation for the advance toward Rome. In a disastrous error on 28 January 1944, the destroyed an train loaded with Allied POWs on a bridge at Orvieto North. The death toll has been reported at 450, the 320th Bombardment Group received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for action in preparation for and in support of Allied offensive operations in central Italy, April–June 1944. It was the first such citation to be awarded to an American unit by the provisional French government in World War II. S. From June to November 1944 operations included interdictory missions in the Po Valley, support for the invasion of Southern France and attacks on enemy communications in northern Italy. The 320th was then moved to France in November 1944 and bombed bridges, rail lines, gun positions, barracks, supply points, ammunition dumps, with the end of hostilities in Europe, the group moved to Germany in June 1945 and participated in the disarmament program. It returned to the United States, November–December 1945, and was inactivated on 4 December 1945, the 320th Bombardment Wing, Medium was activated at March Air Force Base, California on 1 December 1952. The 320th BW assumed the assets of the 106th Bombardment Wing, in the late 1950s, the B-47 Stratojet was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SACs strategic arsenal. Aircraft were reassigned to other SAC units as replacements in late 1959 and 1960 becoming non-operational, the wing was assigned only two maintenance squadrons until 1 July 1958 when the 72d Bombardment Squadron, consisting of 15 B-52Fs

45.
456th Bombardment Wing
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The 456th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 14th Air Division of Strategic Air Command at Beale Air Force Base, California, the wings predecessor was the 456th Bombardment Group, a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization that flew from Italy while assigned to Fifteenth Air Force. The group also served as a troop carrier unit in the Air Force Reserve from 1947 to 1949, the wing was activated in 1952 as the 456th Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, operating Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar transports. In the fall of 1955 the wing deployed to Japan, where it supported reconnaissance operations by recovering capsules carried across the Soviet Uniton by high-altitude balloons. The wing returned to the United States and was inactivated in July 1956, with its personnel forming the cadre for the 419th Troop Carrier Group, the wing was redesignated the 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing and was activated at Beale Air Force Base, California in February 1963. It flew Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling aircraft, although it operated no intercontinental ballistic missiles after then, it was not until July 1972 that the wing was redesignated the 456th Bombardment Wing. See 456th Bombardment Group page for additional history The 456th Troop Carrier Wing, Medium was activated in October 1952, the wing flew Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar troop carrier transports. The wing moved to Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina on 25 July 1953, until 1955 It participated in numerous tactical exercise in the United States and overseas, mostly in conjunction with Army airborne forces. The wing was reorganized on 1 March 1955 when its tactical group, when reorganized the wing assumed control over three tactical squadrons plus three squadron-size detachments manned for self-sufficient operations and having eight specially modified C-119s. The wing headquarters moved to Shiroi Air Base, Japan while its components were located in areas of Japan, Okinawa. Under the control of the 1st Air Division it participated in Project Drag Net, the wing’s task was to perform aerial recovery of high-altitude balloon-borne instrument packages. A mobile radio squadron from United States Air Force Security Service was attached to the wing for this mission, WS119L payloads consisted of an AN/DMQ-1, which was a gondola containing two cameras. Between January and February 1956,448 balloons were launched under this program from locations in Scotland, Norway, Germany, most came down prematurely, but about 80 reached the recovery zones after overflying the Soviet Union. 44 successful midair recoveries were made of the camera-bearing gondolas, the program was terminated because of the low success rate. The 456th was awarded an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its participation in this program, the wing gained its first operational squadron on 1 April 1959 when the 903d Air Refueling Squadron, flying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was activated at Beale. Starting in 1960, one third of the aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed. This was increased to half the aircraft in 1962. The 4126th continued to maintain an alert commitment until inactivation, as a result, the 4126th Wing was replaced by the newly redesignated 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing, which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 February 1963

46.
15th Wing
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The 15th Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The wing reports directly to the commander, Pacific Air Forces and its history goes back to just before World War II, when the 15th Pursuit Group was organized at Wheeler Field, Hawaii from elements of the 18th Pursuit Group. The groups combat effectiveness was largely destroyed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and it later became a Twentieth Air Force very long range fighter group on Iwo Jima, escorting Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers that attacked the Japanese home Islands. In April 1945 the group earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for combat action over Japan, following the end of the war, the group returned to Hawaii, where it was inactivated in 1946. It performed the air defense mission at Niagara Falls Municipal Airport, New York until it was discontinued in 1960, in July 1962, Tactical Air Command organized the 15th Tactical Fighter Wing as the second McDonnell F-4 Phantom II wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. In 1970 the wing was inactivated and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, which moved on paper to MacDill from Hamilton Air Force Base, California. Little more than a later, the wing returned to Hawaii as the 15th Air Base Wing. The wing has been stationed at Hickam since then, in 1984, the 15th group and 15th wing were consolidated into a single unit. The 15 Wing is composed of three groups and one direct reporting squadron each with specific functions, the operations group controls all flying and airfield operations. The maintenance group performs aircraft and aircraft support equipment maintenance, the medical group provides medical and dental care. The 15th Comptroller Squadron performs financial management for the wing, the remaining functions of the wing are staff agencies. Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is also host to numerous tenant organizations, the Air Force side of the installation supports 140 tenant and associate units. The unit was constituted as the 15th Pursuit Group and was activated at Wheeler Field, Hawaii. The original squadrons of the group were the 45th, 46th, the group drew its cadre from the 18th Pursuit Group, which had been stationed at Wheeler since 1927. In addition to its combat aircraft the group flew the Curtiss A-12 Shrike, Grumman OA-9 Goose, Martin B-12. A little more than a later, on 7 December 1941. Bombing and strafing attacks that morning by carrier-based planes of the Japanese strike force destroyed many assigned aircraft, both received the Distinguished Service Cross. Because of the casualties suffered by the group in the attack

47.
18th Operations Group
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The 18th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 18th Wing, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. 18th Wing heritage began on 21 January 1927, when the War Department activated a provisional pursuit group at Wheeler Field, carlyle H. Walsh in February 1931, and officially approved in 1932. Major Kenneth M. Walker assumed command in March 1940, having on his staff Captain Roger W. Ramey, and Lieutenants Bruce K. Holloway, K. P. Bocquist, John G. Simpson, over 60 P-40Cs were destroyed on the ground at Wheeler. The group, assigned to Seventh Air Force in February 1942, had to be re-equipped before it could resume training, during March 1943, the group moved to the South Pacific Theater and rejoined the war effort as part of Thirteenth Air Force and began operations from Guadalcanal. Used Lockheed P-38 Lightnings, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Northrop P-61 Black Widows, escorted bombers to targets in the southern Philippines and Borneo, and attacked enemy airfields and installations in the Netherlands Indies. Moved to the Philippines in January 1945, at the end of the war, the group moved to Clark Field on Luzon and became part of Far East Air Forces after the war. Flew patrols and trained with Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars, with the distinction of being the first overseas fighter unit to be jet-equipped, the group lost all personnel in March 1947 but was re-manned in September 1947. Equipped first with Republic F-47 Thunderbolts, later with North American F-51 Mustangs, in August 1948, it became a subordinate unit to the newly activated 18th Fighter Wing. On 20 January 1950, the wing was re-designated the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Korea in July 1950 and entered combat. In late July, the headquarters with two of its squadrons deployed with F-80s from the Philippines to Taegu AB, South Korea. From 28 July to 3 August, the 18th Group operated directly under Fifth Air Force then passed to the control of the 6002nd Fighter Wing, pilots exchanged their F-80s for F-51 Mustangs. Combat targets included tanks and armored vehicles, locomotives and trucks, artillery and antiaircraft guns, fuel and ammunition dumps, warehouses and factories, and troop concentrations. Because the front advanced so rapidly, operations from Pusan soon became impractical, the 2nd SAAF Squadron joined the 18th in mid-November. The Chinese Communist caused the group to move twice in as many weeks, first to Suwon AB, South Korea, from there the 18th FBG continued to support ground forces and carry out armed reconnaissance and interdiction missions. From November 1950 through January 1951, it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for destroying roughly 2,400 enemy vehicles and severely damaging almost 500 more. From early 1951 until January 1953, the group and its squadrons, moving from base to base in South Korea. When in January 1953 the group rejoined the wing at Osan-ni AB and it flew its first F-86 counter air mission on 26 February 1953. In the final days of the war, the 18th FBG attacked dispersed enemy aircraft at Sinuiju and Uiju Airfields, the group remained in Korea for some time after the armistice

48.
44th Fighter Group
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The 44th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, the 44 FG is an associate unit of the 325th Fighter Wing, Air Combat Command and if mobilized the wing is gained by ACC. Otherwise, the 44 FG operates as a unit of AFRCs 301st Fighter Wing at NAS JRB Fort Worth. During World War II, its unit, the 44th Bombardment Group was the first VIII Bomber Command B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group stationed in England. It was initially stationed at RAF Cheddington on 11 September 1942, johnson, while commander of the 44th Bombardment Group, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Polesti Raid on 1 August 1943. In the postwar era, the 44th Bombardment Group was one of the original ten USAAF bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946. Administratively, the 44 FG is a component of the AFRC 301st Fighter Wing, based at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, in April 2010, the 44th Fighter Group, Detachment 2 was activated at Holloman Air Force Base. On 1 October 2012, it was transferred to the 325th Wing, forming an association with the 325th Wing while it was under Air Education. Detachment 2 helped lead the transition of the F-22 Raptor combat-coded mission from Holloman Air Force Base to Tyndall, the 44th Group supports operations, flying training and maintenance. The group also supported Northrop T-38 Talon operations at Holloman in which played the role of adversary aircraft in F-22 training exercises. Due to U. S. congressional action, this transfer was delayed until January 2014. 301st Fighter Squadron,9 April 2010 – present For additional history and lineage, received first B-24, and later B-24C. Moved Barksdale Field, La. on 16 February 1942 and acted as training unit for 98th, 93rd, during same period took part in anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and was credited with the destruction of one U-boat. On 26 July 1942 they moved to Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma, ground echelon left by Queen Mary on 4 September 1942 for Grenier Field in NH, and remained there until the first aircraft left for the United Kingdom late in September 1942. The 404 Bomb Squadron originally part of the Group was reassigned while in the United States, in England, the group was assigned to the VIII Bomber Command 14th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a Circle-A. Initially stationed at RAF Cheddington, the group was moved ot RAF Shipdham in October 1942, the 44th Bomb Groups operations consisted primarily of assaults against strategic targets in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Romania, Austria, Poland, and Sicily. Among the targets attacked were submarine installations, industrial establishments, airfields, harbors, shipyards, late in June 1943 a large detachment moved to North Africa to help facilitate the Allied invasion of Sicily by bombing airfields and marshalling yards in Italy. The detachment also participated in the famous raid on the Ploesti oil fields on 1 August 1943

Aircraft and ground crew of Boeing B-17F-25-BO Fortress "Hell's Angels" (AAF Ser. No. 41-24577) of the 358th Bomb Squadron, 303d Bomb Group, RAF Molesworth. This was first B-17 to complete 25 combat missions in the 8th Air Force, on 13 May 1943. After completing 48 missions, the aircraft returned to the U.S. on 20 January 1944, for a publicity tour